The Blue Waterlily (Nymphaea caerulea), also known as the Egyptian Blue Lotus or Blue Lotus, is a blue water-lily in the genus Nymphaea that grows upon the Nile, amongst other locations.

The leaves are broadly rounded, 25-40 cm across, with a notch at the leaf stem. The flowers are 10-15 cm diameter, open in the morning, rising to the surface of the water, then close and sink at dusk. It has sky-blue petals, smoothly changing to a pale yellow in the centre of the flower.

It was considered extremely significant in Egyptian mythology, since it rose and fell with the sun. Consequently, due to its colourings, it was identified, in some beliefs, as having been the original container, in a similar manner to an egg, of Atum, and in similar beliefs Ra, both solar deities. As such, its properties form the origin of the lotus variant of the Ogdoad cosmogeny.

The flowers are rumored to contain aporphine, a drug that purported to have divinatory properties, and nuciferine, an antispasmodic. The Lotus's narcotic effect is central to an episode in Homer's Odyssey, when Ulysses and his crew arrive at an island populated by "lotus eaters" and the sailors, made indolent by the plant, do not wish to leave. It is also the flower that lent its name to Alfred, Lord Tennyson's (fl. 1850) poem, The Lotos-Eaters, based on the Odyssey.

Used in Aromatherapy, Lotus is a divine essence, bringing euphoria, heightened awareness and tranquility. The symbol of the Egyptian God of healing Nerfertem, God of the Primeval Lotus Blossom. Associated with peace, trancendence, love, enlightenment, rebirth, beauty and fertility and has Anti-spasmodic and sedative, purifying and calming properties.

See also

• Egyptian White Water-lily
• Palmette

Nymphaeales

Nénuphar bleu